Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
1
The LORD spoke his word to me. He said,
2 Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and let thy speech flow towards the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel:
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"Son of man, turn to Jerusalem, preach against the holy places. Prophesy against the land of Israel.
3 And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I come against thee, and I will draw forth my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off in thee the just, and the wicked.
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Tell the land of Israel, 'This is what the LORD says: I am against you. I will take my sword out of its scabbard and kill the righteous people and the wicked people among you.
4 And forasmuch as I have cut off in thee the just and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of its sheath against all flesh, from the south even to the north.
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I'm going to kill the righteous people and the wicked people among you. That is why my sword will come out of its scabbard to be used against everyone from the south to the north.
5 That all flesh may know that I the Lord have drawn my sword out of its sheath not to be turned back.
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Then everyone will know that I, the LORD, have taken my sword from its scabbard, and I will not put it back again.'
6 And thou, son of man, mourn with the breaking of thy loins, and with bitterness sigh before them.
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"So, son of man, groan with a breaking heart and with bitter crying while the people watch you.
7 And when they shall say to thee: Why mournest thou? thou shalt say: For that which I hear: because it cometh, and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be made feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and water shall run down every knee: behold it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord God.
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When they ask you why you are groaning, say, 'News has come that will discourage everyone. People's hands will hang limp, their hearts will lose courage, and their knees will become as weak as water. It's coming! It will surely take place!' declares the Almighty LORD.'"
8 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
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The LORD spoke his word to me. He said,
9 Son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God: Say: The sword, the sword is sharpened, and furbished.
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"Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, 'This is what the Lord says: A sword, a sword is sharpened and polished,
10 It is sharpened to kill victims: it is furbished that it may glitter: thou removest the sceptre of my son, thou hast cut down every tree.
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It's sharpened to kill and polished to flash like lightning. How can we rejoice? My son has refused to be disciplined or punished.
11 And I have given it to be furbished, that it may be handled: this sword is sharpened, and it is furbished, that it may be in the hand of the slayer.
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The sword has been handed over to be polished, to be placed in the hand. The sword is being sharpened and polished to be placed in the hands of killers.
12 Cry, and howl, O son of man, for this sword is upon my people, it is upon all the princes of Israel, that are fled: they are delivered up to the sword with my people, strike therefore upon thy thigh,
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"'Cry and mourn, son of man, because the sword will be used against my people and against all the princes of Israel. I will throw the princes and my people on the sword. So beat your breast, and grieve.
13 Because it is tried: and that when it shall overthrow the sceptre, and it shall not be, saith the Lord God.
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Testing will surely come. What if you refuse to be disciplined again? Won't you be tested? declares the Almighty LORD.
14 Thou therefore, O son of man, prophesy, and strike thy hands together, and let the sword be doubled, and let the sword of the slain be tripled: this is the sword of a great slaughter, that maketh them stand amazed,
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So prophesy, son of man. Clap your hands! Let the sword strike again and again. It's the sword for killing. It's the sword for killing many people. It's the sword that surrounds them.
15 And languish in heart, and that multiplieth ruins. In all their gates I have set the dread of the sharp sword, the sword that is furbished to glitter, that is made ready for slaughter.
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I have appointed my sword to slaughter people at all their gates so that their hearts will sink and many will die. Yes! It's ready to flash like lightning. It's polished to kill.
16 Be thou sharpened, go to the right hand, or to the left, which way soever thou hast a mind to set thy face.
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Sword, cut to the right. Cut to the left or wherever your blade is turned.
17 And I will clap my hands together, and will satisfy my indignation: I the Lord have spoken.
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I will also clap my hands and rest from my fury. I, the LORD, have spoken.'"
18 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
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The LORD spoke his word to me. He said,
19 And thou son of man, set thee two ways, for the sword of the king of Babylon to come: both shall come forth out of one land: and with his hand he shall draw lots, he shall consult at the head of the way of the city.
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"Son of man, mark two roads that the king of Babylon and his sword can take. Both of these roads should start from the same country. Make a sign, and put it where the roads start to fork toward the cities.
20 Thou shalt make a way that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to Juda unto Jerusalem the strong city.
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Mark the road that the king and his sword can take to the Ammonite city of Rabbah, and mark the road that leads to Judah and the fortified city of Jerusalem.
21 For the king of Babylon stood in the highway, at the head of two ways, seeking divination, shuffling arrows: he inquired of the idols, and consulted entrails.
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The king of Babylon will stop where the roads branch off, where there is a fork in the road. Then he will look for omens. He will shake some arrows, ask his household gods for help, and examine animal livers.
22 On his right hand was the divination for Jerusalem, to set battering rams, to open the mouth in slaughter, to lift up the voice in howling, to set engines against the gates, to cast up a mount, to build forts.
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The omens will indicate that he should go to the right, to Jerusalem. So he will set up his battering rams there, give the order to kill, raise a battle cry, aim the battering rams against the city gates, put up ramps, and set up blockades.
23 And he shall be in their eyes as one consulting the oracle in vain, and imitating the leisure of sabbaths: but he will call to remembrance the iniquity that they may be taken.
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The people won't believe this because they have made treaties with other nations. But the king of Babylon will remind them of their sins, and they will be captured.
24 Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because you have remembered your iniquity, and have discovered your prevarications, and your sins have appeared in all your devices: because, I say, You have remembered, you shall be taken with the hand.
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"This is what the Almighty LORD says: You make people remember how sinful you are because you openly do wrong. You show your sins in everything you do. So you will be taken captive.
25 But thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come that hath been appointed in the time of iniquity:
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"You dishonest and wicked prince of Israel, the time for your final punishment has come.
26 Thus saith the Lord God: Remove the diadem, take off the crown: is it not this that hath exalted the low one, and brought down him that was high?
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This is what the Almighty LORD says: Take off your turban, and get rid of your crown. Things are going to change. Those who are unimportant will become important, and those who are important will become unimportant.
27 I will shew it to be iniquity, iniquity, iniquity: but this was not done till he came to whom judgment belongeth, and I will give it him.
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Ruins! Ruins! I will turn this place into ruins! It will not be restored until its rightful owner comes. Then I will give it to him.
28 And thou son of man, prophesy, and say: Thus saith the Lord God concerning the children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach, and thou shalt say: O sword, O sword, come out of the scabbard to kill, be furbished to destroy, and to glitter,
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"Son of man, prophesy. Tell them, 'This is what the Almighty LORD says about the Ammonites and their insults: A sword, a sword is drawn ready to kill. It's polished to destroy and flash like lightning.
29 Whilst they see vain things in thy regard, and they divine lies: to bring thee upon the necks of the wicked that are wounded, whose appointed day is come in the time of iniquity.
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People see false visions about you and prophesy lies about you. The sword will be placed on the necks of dishonest, wicked people, for whom the time of final punishment has come.
30 Return into thy sheath. I will judge thee in the place wherein thou wast created, in the land of thy nativity.
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"'Return your sword to its scabbard. In the place where you were created, in the land where you were born, there I will judge you.
31 And I will pour out upon thee my indignation: in the fire of my rage will I blow upon thee, and will give thee into the hands of men that are brutish and contrive thy destruction.
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I will pour out my fury on you and breathe on you with my fiery anger. I will hand you over to cruel people who are skilled in destruction.
32 Thou shalt be fuel for the fire, thy blood shall be in the midst of the land, thou shalt be forgotten: for I the Lord have spoken it.
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You will be fuel for the fire. You will die in the land. You will no longer be remembered. I, the LORD, have spoken.'"